Russia is prepared to receive representatives of international bodies in Crimea that are duly authorized, Director of the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights of the Russian Foreign Ministry Anatoly Viktorov said on Monday at a conference opening for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on the review of implementing commitments in the field of human dimension.
“The myth that Russia doesn’t let international observers into Crimea is nothing but a myth”, he stressed. “Crimea is open for international observers in accordance with the international commitments of Russia,” he stated.
“We are ready to let in representatives from bodies and entities that are authorized to monitor Russia’s implementation of its commitments,” he noted.
The head of Russian delegation encouraged his Western colleagues to stop “spreading myths and tales about the situation of human rights in Crimea.” “The idea that Russia liberated Crimea for the sole purpose of violating human rights there is absolutely politicized,” he stressed. “It doesn’t make sense.” “Even individual cases of violating human rights, that supposedly take place there, are few and far between,” he said adding that in most cases the complete opposite happens.